Proactive Mentoring

Mentored tuition is considered extremely important to the acquisition of new skills.  When learning OO, students need to learn a new programming paradigm, the implementation language, associated technologies and the practicalities of development.  This is an onerous learning task.  It has long been recognised that formal classroom tuition can only address part of the problem space and direct transmission of knowledge in a practical setting is an ideal way to infer the aspects of teaching not amenable to formal classroom tuition. 

The use of mentoring is often used to supplement training.  The difference between this and what we offer in pro-active mentoring is the ability to change the program on a daily basis, dependant on the needs of the individual.  Standard mentoring programs use a blanket system in which all students receive the same pre-defined mentoring.  Our program means that students will have individually set targets and is able to progress through these at their own rate with the help of the Cognotive mentoring supervisor.

Preparation & Consolidation

Experience has shown that students tend to learn more when the tutor knows their particular strengths and weaknesses and the course material is subsequently emphasized toward their particular needs.  The retention levels of the students are then significantly enhanced when they have the opportunity to try out the material in their “real world” environment whilst being supported by a tutor.  Without this support, students often simply ignore those aspects of the formal course that they were not too confident in.

The Cognotive recommended approach to training defines that a minimum of 1 week’s pro-active mentoring is taken after each formal training course to allow for this “safe” environment to consolidate their education.  In addition, when a multi-course programme is being delivered, a 2-3 day preparatory mentoring session should be taken before any formal training is undertaken to ensure that all of the attendees are fully prepared and the tutor is aware of the particular training requirements they have.